Neuvirth’s Record Hurt by Lack of Goal Support from Flyers

(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

By Jeff Quake, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

Goaltending. It has been one of the crucial weaknesses of the Philadelphia Flyers for as long as many of us can remember, as they have been searching for the next Bernie Parent.

The fans of the Orange and Black have seen several goalies hoping to bring them one step closer to the Stanley Cup, from Ron Hextall to Roman Cechmanek to Robert Esche to Ilya Bryzgalov and so on.

For the 2017-18 season, the Flyers goaltenders are Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth. In six games, Neuvirth has a 2-3-1 record Neuvirth with a 1.83 GAA and .941 save percentage, while Elliott has appeared in nine games with a 5-3-1 record, 3.11 GAA and .892 save percentage.

Sure, it is still early in the season, but there is a bigger issue that sticks out. There is one massive and noticeable difference between the starts for Elliott and Neuvirth: goals scored for Philadelphia.

Philadelphia has scored 15 goals while Neuvirth is in net, an average of 2.5 per game with the most being in the Flyers 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Oct. 17. For Elliott, the Flyers have 30 goals, an average of 3.33 goals per game with the most being their eight-goal outburst in the home opener on Oct. 14 against the Washington Capitals.

Why is it that the Flyers seem to have more trouble scoring in front of Neuvirth and not Elliott? Sure, they are both solid goaltenders, but you would think that the team would be able to put up numbers for both of them and not just Elliott?

It seems the team just generally plays better with the man known as "Moose" between the pipes. There isn’t really an explanation for why players do better with one goalie in net compared to another, but one thing is certain, the Flyers have been able to score with Elliott in net, hold for his most recent start, a 3-0 shutout loss in Chicago on Wednesday. 

If the team performs better with Elliott in goal, does that make him the de facto No. 1? Or is Neuvirth, whose performance has arguably been better among the two goalies by the numbers, the go-to guy?

The reason behind the lack of goals in front of Neuvirth goes without explanation, but the Flyers need to figure out the formula to giving Neuvirth more support. Neuvirth's been holding down the net for the Flyers in his starts, which include two shutout losses by the Flyers, so the rest of the team needs to start returning the favor and rewarding Neuvirth for a good start to his season, even if the record is less than ideal.